The right formula to achieve excellence in education

The sustained quest for excellence in education is visible across the globe and within Indian metros as well. Over the years, Mumbai's educational institutions have also been constantly raising the bar and benchmarking themselves against the best in the world. A closer look at the various aspects across different fields reveals how well Mumbai scores.

Strong industry linkages
Dr. Hanif U Kanjer, Founding Director, Rustomjee Business School, explains that excellence in management education is reflected in aspects like strong industry linkages, providing live project opportunities to enable application of knowledge, development of EQ and SQ in addition to IQ. "For instance, at Rustomjee Business School our focus is to go beyond the text by getting students involved in a wide variety of activities ranging from army-training, rock climbing, rappelling, river rafting, parasailing, flute classes, and intensive technology-based learning. Another important aspect is integrating the syllabus to offer content from the best professional programs such as CFA, ICWAI, and NSE, which are highly valued by the industry.

For example, in corporate finance, economics, financial accounting, we have incorporated the syllabus offered by professional certification courses, which provides our students the option of appearing for the certification exams along with their management studies, enhancing their employability. Our outbound programs are aimed at providing students exposure to international as well as rural India environments, which serves as an excellent study of contrasts and opportunities," he says.

Practical experience counts
According to him, Mumbai scores very high when compared with other cities across the world and even within India. "I studied at the London Business School in London, UK, and have worked in New York. When I compare the learning opportunities and linkages provided by these international destinations, Mumbai compares very favorably. Right from its multicultural context, to its diversity of income groups, and its entrepreneurial spirit, Mumbai offers an excellent environment for gaining practical experience as well as the best academic opportunities."

Rich resource base
"Mumbai, being a financial hub, offers an extremely strong pool of industry professionals who demonstrate strong academic passion and a desire to impart knowledge. At Rustomjee Business School, we have incorporated a series called Success Talks wherein we require students to interview successful CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business managers - and Mumbai is a rich resource base in this space.  Last year, we had our students work on a live project for Dr. Amit Lala from the Harvard University, who was keen on establishing a chain of orthodontics clinic in India. Based on the feasibility study conducted by our management students, he established his first clinic in Mumbai. These opportunities in live projects set Mumbai apart," he opines.

Development of students
Shruti Mehta, Managing Partner and Operations Head for Teacherni.com, feels that aspects like the pedagogy - quality and approach of teaching including tools and resources provided; moral, social and cultural development of students; relevance of coursework and accreditation by qualified and established entities are quite important. "Mumbai has always been a centre for excellence and has steadily improved resources. It has been enhancing institution capabilities with technology advancements," she says.

Capturing the essence of learning
Vishwas Deshpande, Managing Trustee, Vidyalankar Dnyanpeeth Trust and MD, Vidyalankar Classes, emphasises that there is a big difference between being 'qualified' and being 'educated.
He underlines the fact that while being qualified means getting the degree certificate per se, being educated means capturing the essence of learning.

Global best practices
"Socrates said that the test of knowledge is how to apply it. For Vidyalankar, imbibing excellence in education' is an unending passion. It is not only taking up lectures and adhering to syllabi. We make every effort to ensure that our teachers adopt the best practices in the world and students measure up to the International standards.

Since Vidyalankar has collaborated with Universities both in the US and the UK, our staff has had opportunities and avenues to mingle with top faculty. Recently Dr Chhajed and Ms Cheelan Bo-Linn of 'Centre for Teaching Excellence' UIUC conducted a three-day workshop on 'The foundations of excellence in teaching.' Excellence in education is all about competing with our own selves and raising the bar perennially," he declares.

Mumbai is uniquely positioned
Highlighting the position of Mumbai as a Metropolitan City, which has always been an ideal to emulate for India, he says, "Some of its best in class institutes like IIT Bombay and ICT are top educational brands. The 150-plus year old Mumbai University also is placed well in this respect. Mumbai students have several opportunities to gauge themselves and excel in the field of education.

Mumbai's unique position as the commercial hub and industry nerve centre makes way for internship opportunities for students across the board. For years the highest number of students, in the top 100 at IIT JEE have been opting for IIT Bombay," he points out.

Industry relevant
Smeeta Gulvady, Vice President & Head of Centre of Learning, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd., feels that the key aspects that define excellence in education are quality industry endorsed content, which is relevant to the changing needs of the industry, continuously upgraded curriculum, a mix of practical exposure and classroom training, experienced and qualified faculty.

These are coupled with opportunities for all round development of students to give them a head start in life.

"Besides being a commercial capital, Mumbai is an  educational hub with plethora of options in higher education, professional training programs whether science, IT, commerce, research, architecture, management, vocational and specialised training.
With the exposure and opportunities available in Mumbai, students are both, inclined and willing to pursue vocational and specialised programs," she points out.